Jim's DXing Page

My Home Made Link Coupled Tuner

2008-05-19T19:57:00.003-05:00

I recently built a link coupled tuner and have had great success with it on 75 and 40 meters. I liked the idea of it being a more efficient transfer of power than using a balun. I use 300 ohm twin lead for my feedline so a balanced tuner is just what I needed. My Heathkit SA-2060 tuner did fine, but I worried about the balun heating up after long transmissions. If you are interested in building one, do a Google search for link coupled tuners, and you'll find an abundance of information. I intend to dress it up a bit with matching knobs and maybe house it to prohibit people from the temptation of touching anything while I'm transmitting. 73 for now, Jim WØHRF

Pulsing Amplifier Tuner

2007-11-08T00:47:00.000-06:00

I made a trip to my local Radio Shack and was able to find all the parts I needed for this project. I have to admit that the circuit board I ended up with doesn't look as nice as the schematic, but the circuit works very nicely. Richard Measures was kind enough to publish the above seen schematic and notes. I increased the resistor value of R1 to increase the speed or frequency of the dits for more stable meter readings.

The idea behind the pulser is to use a rapid series of cw dits that are fast enough to keep the meter levels stable. I plug this into the electric-key jack on my 746pro, and while in cw mode, tune for max output. This circuit will save your tubes, and power supply, because it only uses 1/3 the grid current to tune your amp up.

73
Jim / KBØQYB

Current Station

2007-10-21T20:59:00.000-05:00

I've been away for a while, but now that the weather is getting cooler, I'll be adding entries as often as I can.

Since upgrading to General Class, I've made some upgrades to my equipment. I'm still loving my Icom 746 Pro, and have added a Heathkit SA-2060 tuner and an Ameritron AL-811 amplifier. I was fortunate enough to find the antenna tuner on Ebay at a real reasonable price. It's an oldie but a goodie and is built like a tank. Below is my main HF antenna, the all band doublet.

All Band Doublet

2007-10-21T20:54:00.000-05:00

This is my latest antenna. It's commonly referred to as a Doublet.

The K3IWK 10-Element Yagi

2006-10-29T00:11:00.000-05:00

The K3IWK 10-Element Yagi
This is my latest 2 meter yagi. It was designed by Charles Byers K3IWK. According to the Central States VHF Society gain measuring results, this yagi packs a 12.7 dbd punch, which for it's size is excellent. Charles does an excellent job machining the parts and making sure that it all fits together nicely. It's solid construction will outlast me. I am currently feeding this antenna with 70 feet of LMR-400 coax, and for the time being, it is mounted on my roof. There is a beacon located 210 miles SW of me that I can hear fairly regularly with this new antenna and my longest confirmed contact was with WØGHZ in Maplewood, MN which is 173 miles S of me. Thanks to this new antenna, I am really looking forward to many years of contesting.

73's

Jim

2006-09-17T16:15:00.000-05:00

7 Element HB

2006-06-24T17:26:00.000-05:00

m2 6 Meter Loop

I've begun using the 6 meter band, and it is a blast. As you can see I'm using a M2 6 HO loop for DXing. I've made contacts all over the country with the loop so far.

2006-06-24T17:25:00.000-05:00

Homebrew 2 Meter Loop

This is a loop that I built recently for 2 meter SSB work. Of course it doesn't have the gain of a yagi, but it's a great little omni-directional antenna. It's small enough to bring with me on camping trips.

2006-04-17T14:47:00.000-05:00

6 Element OWA Yagi

Click the picture

This is my latest adventure. It's a optimizied wideband yagi made from 3/4 inch PVC. The elements are 3/8 inch aluminum rod and the driving element is 1/2 aluminum tubing. In testing, the SWR was flat across the whole band. I will let you know how well it performs in future posts.

73

KBØQYB

2005-10-17T17:41:00.000-05:00

Mag Loop Antenna

A friend called today asking for information on transmitting loop antennas. I have never used one personally, but from what I've experienced with other kinds of receiving loop antennas, I'd bet their well worth the effort to build. QRPer's boast of transcontinental QSOs with the magnetic loops in many of the articles I've read. Feeding the loop is relatively simple, you can either feed it with an inductively coupled smaller loop, or with a capacitive coupling. There are several plans to be found simply by doing a Google search for magnetic loops. Don't let the remote tuning process intimidate you. It may not be necessary if you plan to use a couple of frequencies inside the same band ie. 40 meters. Below are some links that will get you pointed in the right direction.
Felix Meyers Loop page
Mississippi Style 40 Meter Loop
K1RST's Loop Page
AA5TB's Small Transmitting Loop Page
Magnetic Loop Diagrams

73's
KBØQYB

2005-09-10T22:30:00.000-05:00

A closeup view

2005-09-10T15:56:00.000-05:00

SlimJim 2 Meter Antenna

As the title states, this is the slimjim 2 meter antenna that I just completed. The antenna was made with quarter inch copper tubing, or refridgerator tubing as they say. The base section is a inch inner diameter PVC pipe section. The slimjim boasts more efficiency over the standard 5/8 wave antenna because it's lobes branch out horizontally, rather than at a 15 to 35 degree angle. This means, theoretically, that more of the gain is radiating omnidirectionally at your targets, rather than getting lost in the sky. The antenna is fed like an end-fed zep or j-pole and the matching section is contained inside the pvc. So far I have had very positive results with it. If you would like to view the plans click HERE.

2005-08-23T14:45:00.000-05:00

Google Earth

This is a scene from a new program I've installed called Google Earth. It's a free program that has tons of possibilities for us knob twisters. I may use it to indicate the stations I have logged on MW. I used it to view my brother's new house that I haven't been to yet. It's in 3D and the zoom functions and control of the views are out of this world. It's like you're in a plane and zoominging in on anything or place you wish. Here is the link....Click Me

A Rare Catch

2005-08-07T20:10:00.000-05:00

Tnx to Glen Hauser for the "heads up." Winnipeg's 99
watt special events station CJML-580 returned to the
air today for two weeks of broadcasting commemorating
Victory in Japan and the end of World War 2. Has
anyone heard this outside the Winnipeg area?

580 CJML MB Winnipeg 8-6 0957 CDT good mentioning
support from Kiwanis Chateau, nostalgic music, phone #
(204)-895-2565 and ID.(MS-MB)

Morris Sorensen
Winnipeg MB
Drake R8 with Quantum QX pro loop

NDB Database

2005-07-20T21:19:00.001-05:00

Bill WAØTFT and I were listening to a NDB on 253 KHz the other night, and for the life of me, I could not find any data about it. After searching a bunch of personal websites maintained by LW enthusiasts, I found a great site. The site is called RNA and it's author is Martin Francis. Just click here to find the page.

By the way, the signal we were hearing 253 KHz was from the Chisholm/Hibbing airport, and it's ID in CW is JA. Thanks Bill for initiating the search, which nearly drove me silly, until I found it.

73
Jim

Spokane's Colorful Radio History

2005-07-05T21:33:00.000-05:00

If anyone is interested in a great site that gives plenty of information about Spokane's radio history, or radio history in general, PhilcoBill's website is a must. Here is the link
http://spokane.philcobill.com

2005-05-15T21:46:00.000-05:00

This is the antenna that has had the most impact on my MW DX experience. I've been using variations of it for approximately two years now. The original plans call for 85 feet of wire. I use 135 feet of wire for each loop. Also I use ground radials under each leg of my loops that extend from the center ground rod to 5 or 6 feet beyond the loops. Mine is hidden in the trees about 150 feet behind my house. Of course, this antenna performs best in the mediumwave portion of the spectrum, but the performance is respectable up to 9 or 10 MHz. I use a homebrew antenna tuner for the frequencies beyond 7 Mhz.

Kind regards,

Jim Townley

50-kilowatt KUTR in Utah new on 820 kHz

2005-05-15T21:22:00.000-05:00

KUTR logoKUTR is a new talk station in Taylorsville, Utah, in the United States. KUTR began broadcasting on 820 kHz mediumwave on May 9. The station is transmitting with a power of 50 kW daytime and 2.5 kW nighttime. All programming is aimed at women. The station is owned by Bonneville International Corp.
(DXing.info, May 10, 2005)

CJML 580 in Winnipeg on the air for two weeks in May

2005-04-27T07:17:00.000-05:00

A temporary radio station will be launched in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, on May 1st. CJML will be broadcasting for two weeks on 580 kHz mediumwave. CJML commemorates the 60th Anniversary of Victory in Europe Day in the Second World War. As well as wartime memories, the broadcasts will feature events leading up to and immediately following the war, big band and other period music, and appearances by veteran Winnipeg radio personalities. The calls CJML stand for Come Journey Down Memory Lane. The station can be contacted by writing to 2565 Broadcasters, P.O. Box 46124, RPO Westdale, Winnipeg, R3R 3S3, Canada. If CJML uses the facilities of the 50-kilowatt CKY, which until May 2004 operated for years on 580 AM, it should be heard widely in North America. Local DXer Shawn Axelrod was the first to report about the radio project.(DXing.info, April 26, 2005)

2005-04-25T00:15:00.000-05:00

The new DXpedition rig

Site looks great

2005-04-24T21:02:00.000-05:00

Jim:
Your site looks great. I will be sure to post some messages later.

PhilcoBill
Bill Harms
Elkridge, Maryland

April 2005 Loggings

2005-04-24T12:55:00.000-05:00

My AM broadcast loggings from April 2005.

Call KHz Location SIO Date
KGA 1510 Spokan, WA 444 Apr 3, 2005
KQLX 890 Lisbon, ND 333 Apr 4, 2005
KLMR 920 Lamar, CO 444 Apr 5, 2005
KCJJ 1630 Iowa City, IA 444 Apr 10, 2005
WYLL 1160 Chicago, IL 444 Apr 11, 2005
KSCJ 1360 Sioux City, IA 444 Apr 17, 2005
WTTN 1580 Watertown, WI 323 Apr 18, 2005
KGHS 1230 Int. Falls, MN 333 Apr 21, 2005
KWNO 1230 Winona, MN 222 Apr 21, 2005
WCCN 1370 Neilsville, WI 344 Apr 21, 2005
CFRW 1290 Winnipeg, MAN 343 Apr 24, 2005
KBRB 1400 Ainsworth, NE 323 Apr 24, 2005
WKNR 850 Cleveland, OH 222 Apr 24, 2005
WKLJ 1290 Sparta, WI 333 Apr 24, 2005
WOOD 1300 Grand Rapids, MI 333 Apr 24, 2005

SIO stands for Signal Interference Overall

Antennas

2005-04-23T22:09:00.000-05:00

My bedtime secret weapon

This is my 22 inch mw loop. I made it from pine dowels. It works great near the bed with my Sony ICF 2010. Anything bigger would have me sleeping in the dog house. My main dxing antenna is a homebrew K9AY loop array. Check out this link if you'd like to read more about the K9AY antenna http://www.hard-core-dx.com/nordicdx/antenna/loop/k9ay/index.html

Happy DXing,

MWave

Where's That Station (WTS)

2005-04-23T01:50:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard a call sign and couldn't find a listing for it? Then later you discover that what you heard and the actual call sign are two different things. WTS is a great reference tool for MW dxers, and it's packed with features. You can use it to log call signs, and look up call letters as well. It even takes wild cards. KB*R for example. Another neat feature is that it shows you distances, and keeps track of your furthest loggings. When you log a station that is further than anything you've logged so far, a window pops up congratulating you. There are several other MW queries you can use as well. One thing nice about this program is that the author, Eric Force, continually updates the database. Did I mention that this program is free? Here's the link http://www.dobe.com/wts/

Have fun,

MWave

Finding other Hobbyists

2005-04-21T02:38:00.000-05:00

One of the biggest advancements for me in the monitoring hobby was the ability to find others who share the same excitement of the hobby as I do. On the IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is where I located chat channels where I could chat with others about what I was listening to. I found channels on the Starchat network with people who had far more experience than I in the hobby, and they were willing to share their knowlege with me in real time. I have learned more about radio in the past four or five years by hanging out on the Starchat network in channels like #SWL and #MWDX, than I ever did before.

MWDX (Medium Wave DX) as the name implies, is a chat channel designated solely for AM broadcast. People from all over the globe hang out there to chat about topics such as equipment, conditions, dxtips, and up and coming changes in the hobby like IBOC. It was here that I developed a real appreciation for the AM broadcast hobby. I could chat in real time with others who have been logging MW stations for years.

For more information on the IRC and the Starchat network follow this link http://www.starchat.net/

Cheers for now
MWave

Welcome MW DXers

2005-04-20T23:06:00.000-05:00

This blog was created as a place to discuss such topics as antennas, receivers, conditions, testings, loggings, TA's, graveyard channels or anything else medium wave related. When possible, I will post links and tips for reference to help or assist those who are interested in this great hobby.

Kind regards,

Mwave